HELPINGSTUDENTSDEVELOPA SOCIOLOGICAL
IMAGINATION
THROUGHINNOVATIVE
WRITINGASSIGNMENTS*
LEED. MILLARBIDWELL
LongwoodCollege
AS SOCIOLOGYPROFESSORS,WE CONSIS-
creativeandwilling to departfromconventionalclassroomassignments.
For most sociologists,the struggle to
designassignmentsthat challengestudents
to "questionthe obvious"is occurringduring a time when educatorsare underpressure to incorporatemorewritinginto their
courses.Throughoutthe country,colleges
and universitieshave established"Writing
across the Curriculum"(WAC) programs
that requiregreateremphasison writing
skills in all disciplines.The WAC movement,initiatedpartlyin responseto employers'demandfor workerswith bettercommunicationskills,is perceivedbysomeasan
onerousadministrative
directivedesignedto
furtherburdenprofessorswho alreadyare
overwhelmedwith crowdedclasses,research
requirements,and ever-growingadvising
and committeeresponsibilities.
Farfrom beinga burden,the increasing
emphasison writing has enhancededucation by reinforcingwhat many educators
already know: "writing is an important
meansof clarifyingthinking"(Cadwallader
and Scarboro1982:362). Researchconsistentlyshowsthatstudentslearnmoreabout
a topic and retain the informationlonger
when theywriteaboutit (FasslerWalvoord
1986;Karcher1988;Zinsser1988).Writing
is not simplya meansofexplainingwhatone
knows; it is an invaluableway to generate
thinking,discovery,and learning(Karcher
1988). Sociologists must design assignmentsthatallowstudentsto thinkcritically
in writingabout personalexperiencesand
social events,for "asstudentswrite about
and becomefamiliarwith what they hear[,]
they move, almostdespitethemselves,to a
moreexactingappreciationof the sociological imagination"(Cadwalladerand Scarboro 1982:362).
Writingis not incorporatedinto sociol*Iwouldlike to thankGordonVan Ness andthree ogy classesin additionto helping students
anonymousTSreviewersfor theirhelpfulcomments. discover their sociological imagination;
tently try to impress upon our students the
unique way in which sociologists view the
social world. In introductory classeswe generally approach this task by assigning C.
Wright Mills's (1959) classic essay "The
Promise"in which Mills eloquently describes
the "sociological imagination" as a "quality
of mind" that helps individuals criticallyassess events in society and link them to their
own lives. In upper-division seminars we
continue, through lecture and class discussions, to instruct students that sociology is
not merely a discipline; it is a "form of consciousness" (Berger 1963). Ironically,the sociological perspectiveis difficult and frustrating to teach precisely becauseit is a cognitive
ability ratherthan a simple vo,cabularyterm.
Students can be told through lectures and
reading assignments that sociologists do not
"look at phenomena that nobody else is
aware of," but simply view "the same phenomena in a different way" (Berger
1963:28). Even so, they cannot be taught
how to "'see through' the facades of social
structures" (Berger 1963:31). Instead students must be given the opportunity to develop a sociological imagination through
practice and application.
Creating assignments that challenge students to see the world as sociologists is quite
difficult. They must be given the opportunity to critically assesselements of society to
which they have been routinely exposed all
their lives. The traditional term paper, although useful for teaching students library
researchskills and how to write in an objective, impersonal, and professional manner,
does not allow them to explore ideas in
novel, imaginative ways (Singh and Unnithan 1989). Professorswho want students to
develop a sociological imagination must be
TeachingSociology,1995, Vol. 23 (October:401-406)
401
402
rather,it is an essentialpart of the process.
Writingassignmentsshould be designedto
encouragecriticalthinkingand creativityas
well as to help studentspolish their writing
skills. Professorsshould assign different
typesofwriting-some informal,some formal-so students will learn to construct
their thinking and writing in a varietyof
ways.Becausestudentstend to producebetter writing when they are motivatedand
excitedabouta topic (Zinsser1988), professors who design writing assignmentsthat
allowstudentsto exploresubjectsin novel
wayswill generallybe rewardedwith higherqualitywork.
In this teachingnote I describea project
I designedfor a Women and Societycourse
that helps students develop a sociological
imaginationand allows them to engagein
severaltypes of writingwithout producing
the traditionaltermpaper. Studentsreport
thatthey enjoyworkingon the project,and
theirwriting reflectstheir enthusiasm.Although the project involves three separate
writingassignments,none of the gradingis
burdensome.Studentsproduceworkthatis
interestingto read,often enlightening,and
usuallya pleasureto grade.
OVERVIEW
OFTHE PROJECT
The project,which I call "Womenin ContemporaryCulture,"includesthreewriting
assignments,classdiscussion,a collectionof
culturalartifacts,and informalclasspresentations.The objectiveis to make students
moreawareof the pervasiveness
ofwomen's
imagesin culture,and ultimatelyto see how
gendernormsshapewomen'sstatusin society. When students begin the course,they
write a short essayin which they statewhat
they believethe statusof women in Americansocietyto be. Then they collectcultural
artifacts(suchas magazinearticles,t-shirts,
and music) that illustratewomen'ssocial,
TEACHINGSOCIOLOGY
Students, however, also take three examinations on readingand lecture materialduring
the semester (the syllabus is available upon
request). The examinations include a combination of multiple-choice, short-answer,
and essay questions.
THEIN-CLASS
ESSAY
In the first week of class, before any reading
has been assigned and before I deliver any
lectures, students write an in-class essay titled "The Status of Women in American
Society."In this essaythey must explain how
they believe women are treated and perceived in contemporary American culture,
and must provide several examples to support their thesis. I do not give students
specific guidelines for this first assignment
because I want them to approach the topic
from their own perspectives. Generally,
however,the essaysstate one of the following
theses: 'Women are exploited and devalued"; 'Women's status has improved, but
they still have a long way to go to achieve
equality with men"; 'Women have attained
equalitywith men"; and "Women have more
privileges and choices than men."
The purpose of the initial essayis to force
students to clearly articulate their perception of women's status. After the essays are
completed and we discuss them in class, I
tell students that I want them to temporarily
suspend their preconceived beliefs about the
status ofwomen. I instruct them to look for
any symbols or indicators of women's status
in culture, even thosewhich do not conform
to their initial assessment or thesis.
CULTHE "WOMENIN CONTEMPORARY
TURE"COLLECTION
Images of women abound in culture, although we do not always recognize them.
The second component of the project is
designed to help students notice and evaluate the indicators of women's status that
economic, and/or political status. Finally, surround them. I assign them the task of
after critically studying society for an entire finding at least two symbols or "indicators"
semester, students write a long essay in of women's status in culture per week. Indiwhich they reexamine their perception of cators can be found virtually everywhere,
women's status.
including song lyrics,television shows, movThe "Women in Contemporary Cul- ies, advertisements, newspaper and magature"project is the focal point of the course. zine articles,greeting cards,bumper stickers,
INNOVATIVE
WRITINGASSIGNMENTS
403
posters, clothing, calendars,and personal
conversationsand experiences.Everyitem
collected must be accompaniedby a brief
written explanationof how the studentinterpretedor reactedto it.
At least part of one class period each
week is devotedto discussingthe collected
materials.Studentsareaskedto bringitems
to classor to recounteventsfromthatweek
which they believeillustratewomen'sstatus
in society.Requiringstudentsto sharetheir
materialsand their perceptionswith classmatesproducessome of the best classroom
discussionsI have conductedin sevenyears
of teaching.Afterone studentsharesa magazine advertisementor recounts a "joke"
which he or she heard that week, other
studentsareeagerto respond.
Students'reactionsto their colleagues'
presentationstakea varietyof forms.Often
studentsreactto the objectsor eventsthat
otherspresent by sharingsimilaritems or
experiences.For example,students usually
do not have any troublefinding magazine
advertisements
that reflectsome culturalattitude about women. After one student
sharesa cologne advertisementin which a
bare-breasted
womanis shownbuttheproduct is not mentioned,otherstudentseagerly
discusssimilaradvertisements.During the
dediscussionothertypesof advertisements
pictingwomen asexecutivesandas mothers
also surface;the students ultimatelylearn
thattherearea varietyof imagesandstereotypesof women in contemporarysociety.
Studentsdo not alwaysagreeon the "apway to interpretculturalsymbols
propriate"
and events. One semester,severalfemale
studentsbecamevery interestedin collectinggreetingcardsthatcontainedmale-bashing messages. Some students laughed at
thesemessages,arguingthatturnaboutis fair
play.Othersassertedthat the messageswere
sexist and inappropriate,whether they insulted men or women. Song lyrics also
sparkedfierce debate; some students be-
sion, the objectiveof the assignmentis to
give studentsthe opportunityto developa
sociologicalimagination-the abilityto recognizeand questionthe obvious.Afteronly
a few weeks of class, students reportthat
theynow recognizeitemsandeventsin their
environmentwhich they formerlyignored.
They begin seeingmessagesin moviesand
hearing messagesin songs that they had
overlookedcountlesstimes.Most students,
for example,were amazedat the violent,
controlling theme of the Rolling Stones'
"UnderMy Thumb."They had heardthe
song hundredsof times and had even sung
along,but somestudentsreportedthatthey
never had actuallylistenedto the message
until the songwas playedin class.
Shoppingtrips,visits to the localvideo
store, and even an hour at the laundromat
provideopportunitiesto use the "sociological imagination" and learn a lesson in
women'sstudies.Studentsnow notice that
pink and blue disposablerazorsare exactly
the same,but the pink ones cost more.The
lack of strong femalecharactersin movies
becomespainfullyobviousaftera weekend
of viewingthe newestreleaseswith a roommate.One malestudentevenwent so faras
to bringhis girlfriend's
negligeeto classand
explainedhow he hadgainedsuddeninsight
into "thebeautymyth"while foldinglaundry.He saidhe realizedforthe firsttime that
men canwearcomfortable,practicalclothes
most of the time,butwomen mustbe beautiful andsexyevenin theirsleep.
Studentsareencouragedto bringvarious
indicatorsofwomen'sstatusto class.Thereforethe instructormust haveaccessto both
a cassettetape playerand a VCR. To save
valuableclass time, I instruct students to
presetanyaudioor videotapesto the appropriate startingplace, and I ask that their
examplesnot runlongerthan two minutes.
Students submit the final collection
aboutthreeweeksbeforethe semesterends.
The artifactstend to be quite diverse,so I
lieved that music which depicted women as
sexuallyaggressivewas "liberating,"and others thought the same songs were "degrading." Class discussions became a forum for
airing and understanding diverse opinions.
Although this portion of the project is an
excellent tool for stimulating class discus-
allow students to be as creative as they like
when putting together the collection. The
only requirementis that every item must be
accompanied by a written explanation of
how the student reacted to it or interpreted
its significance. Some students choose to
keep a scrapbook of items they find and
404
make journalentriesdescribingwhat they
believeeach item indicatesaboutwomen's
statusin society.Others constructcollages
and submit theirexplanationsof each item
as an appendix.Studentshave even compiled video albumsof excerptsfrom television shows,commercials,and moviesalong
with a writtennarrative.
THEFINALESSAY
The finalcomponentof the projectis a fiveto seven-pagetypedessaytitled "TheStatus
of Womenin ContemporarySocietyRevisited."In this paperstudentsreexaminethe
initial assessmentof women's status that
they made in the in-classessay.They must
state whether their opinion of women's
status in society has changedor remained
the same,and must supporttheirargument
by drawingon materialsassignedin classor
includedin theircollection.
The final essay gives students the opportunityto synthesizethe variousmaterials to which they have been exposed
throughoutthe course.Manystudentsstill
hold to theirinitial assessmentof women's
status at the end of the course, but now
they can support their argument more
strongly.Others reportthat theirperspective has changed dramaticallyafterexamining gender images in Americanculture
through a sociological eye. Virtually all
students contend that they cannot stop
analyzingculturalimagesof genderfrom a
sociologicalperspective,even afterthe assignment is officially complete. One student, who becamefascinatedwith analyzing television programsand commercials
for gender messages, reported that her
roommate asked her in exasperationone
evening"Can'tyou everjust watchTV like
a normalperson?"
GRADINGCOMPONENTSOF
THE PROJECT
Supporters of the Writing across the Curriculum movement argue that less is more in
grading written assignments (Fassler
Walvoord 1986; Lindemann 1987). They
believe that meticulous grading of every
TFACHINGSOCIOLOGY
spellingand grammaticalerrorintimidates
students, stifles creativity,and ultimately
does not improve student performance
(FasslerWalvoord 1986; Karcher1988).
Studentsshouldbe taughtto "focusonwriting asaway of learningto think,as opposed
to writing as a way of earning a grade"
(Karcher1988:170).Thereforenot allwriting assignmentsneed to be graded;those
which aregradedshouldsimplyincludethe
professor'sassessmentof the strengthsand
weaknessesof the work with briefsuggestions for improvement.
Although I agreewith this newer philosophy of grading,I have found that if
studentsknowin advancethattheworkwill
not be graded,manywill simplyignorethe
assignment.Therefore,I gradeeachcomponent of the "Womenin ContemporaryCulture"project,but I applyslightlydifferent
criteriato eachassignment.The initialessay,
which is writtenin classwith time limits,is
essentiallya tool to help studentsclarifyfor
themselveshow they believe women are
treatedand perceivedin society.The essays
aregradedon the basisof whetherthe student has articulateda thesisclearlyand has
providedsome supportfor the argument.
These initial in-class essays generallyare
only about two pages long, and are not
difficultto grade.
The second componentof the project,
the collectionof the indicatorsof women's
status in society, is a pleasure to grade.
Studentsusuallyfind interestingmaterials
for their collections and often provide
unique interpretationsof their meaning.
The written reactionsto each item are designed to help studentsreflecton women's
status and ultimatelyto help them "see"
society with the sociologicalimagination.
The audiencefor this writing is supposed
to be the studentratherthanthe professor.
Often the reactionsarewrittenin a streamof-consciousnessstyle, so I do not grade
studentson grammar,spelling,orpunctuation. When assigning a grade, I check to see
that students have included at least two
items per week and that awritten commentary accompanies each item. In addition, I
expect that students will have spent some
time preparing the final collection; I penalize students whose work is sloppy and
WRITINGASSIGNMENTS
INNOVATIVE
thrown together.It is important to grade
and return the collections to students
promptly so that they can use them for
theirfinal essay.
In the final essay,studentsareexpected
to demonstratetheirwritten communication skills by articulatingand defendinga
thesis, and organizinginformation effectively. Unlike the two previous components of the project, the final essayis not
meant to help students clarifytheir thinking, but to presentlogical, convincing argumentsto the reader.Gradesarebasedon
the thoughtfulnessof the student'sargument, on whethersuitablesupportfor the
argumentis provided,and on the mechanics of writing, including organization,
grammar,spelling, and punctuation.
ADJUSTINGTHE PROJECTTO
FITVARIOUSCLASSSIZESAND
ACADEMICCALENDARS
405
their ideas about the course topic at the
beginning of the semester,a collection of
items or events in culture related to the
subject matter,and a final essayin which
students reevaluatetheir initial argument
and synthesize course materials--can be
adaptedto virtuallyany sociology course.
Studentsin stratificationcoursescould be
asked to collect symbols of social class;
similar types of essayscould be assigned.
Likewise,studentsin a courseon minority
groups could searchfor indicatorsof the
social and economic status of a particular
racial or ethnic group. Gerontologystudents could be assigned to examine the
social environmentfor evidenceof cultural
norms and stereotypessurroundingaging.
Professorswho use this type of project
should find that the cultural indicators
which students collect are very useful in
helping students understand and apply
theoreticalconcepts.To facilitatetheoretical thinking, students could be asked to
state in their informal class presentations
or in theirwritten assessmenthow each of
the items they have collected would be
interpretedfrom differenttheoreticalperspectives.Studentsalso could be asked to
reviewtheir evaluationof particularitems
and to determinethe theoreticalperspective with which they agree most closely.
Furthermore,this assignmentis useful in
helpingstudentsidentifystructuralfactors
thatexplainthestatusof a particulargroup.
Studentscould be askedto use theircollection of culturalindicatorsto describespecific social and economicfactorsthat contributeto the statusand stereotypesof the
social groupthey arestudying.
I haveused this projectin women'sstudies
classesthatwere taughtduringthe standard
fall or springsemesterwith enrollmentsof
approximately50 students, as well as in a
summer school course with 15 students.
The assignmentwasequallyeffectivein both
large and small classesand during regular
and condensedsemesters,with some minor
adjustments.In largerclassesthe students
present more diverse materials,although
some duplicationoccurs.In smallerclassesI
requirestudentsto bringin a minimumof
five indicators(insteadof two) so that we
can discussa varietyof materials.
In summerschoolcourses,which usually
meetdailyforlongerclassperiodsthanduring
the regularsemester,one can devote more
CONCLUSION
classtimeto students'informalpresentations.
whenclasses
Duringfallandspringsemesters,
usuallymeetfor 50 to 75 minutes,timelimits The "Womenin ContemporaryCulture"
often must be placedon classdiscussionto projectallowsprofessorsto meet disciplinebased and broad educational objectives
allowampletime for lectures.
ADAPTING THE PROJECTTO
OTHER SOCIOLOGYCOURSES
The basic structure of this project-an inclass essay in which students articulate
without a substantial increase in workload.
Students receive the opportunity to develop
a uniquely sociological view of the world
and simultaneously to refine their writing
skills. Because students generally are enthusiastic about the project, they produce work
that is interesting and enjoyable to grade.
406
TFACHINGSOCIOLOGY
REFERENCES
A HuBerger,PeterL. 1963. Invitationto Sociology:
manisticPerspective.
GardenCity,NY:Anchor.
MervinL. and C. AllenScarboro.1982.
Cadwallader,
"TeachingWritingwithin a SociologyCourse:A
Case Study in Writing across the Curriculum."
Teaching
Sociology9:359-82.
FasslerWalvoord,BarbaraE. 1986. HelpingStudents
WriteWell:A GuideforTeachers
in All Disciplines.
2nd ed. New York:ModernLanguageAssociation.
Karcher,BarbaraC. 1988. "Sociologyand Writing
acrossthe Curriculum:An Adaptationof the SociologicalJournal."Teaching
Sociology16:168-72.
Lindemann,Erika.1987. A Rhetoric
forWritingTeachers.2nd ed. New York:OxfordUniversityPress.
Mills, C. Wright. 1959. TheSociological
Imagination.
New York:OxfordUniversityPress.
Singh, Raghu N. and N. PrabhaUnnithan. 1989.
"Freeto Write:On the Use of SpeculativeWriting
in SociologyCourses."Teaching
Sociology17:46570.
Zinsser,William. 1988. Writingto Learn.New York:
Harperand Row.
LeeMillarBidwellis an assistantprofessorof sociology at LongwoodCollege.Her researchinterestsinclude gender studies, family studies, and social
psychology.Currentlyshe is writing a textbookon
marriageand family,scheduledfor releasein 1997.
Addressall correspondence
to Lee D. MillarBidwell,
Departmentof Sociologyand Anthropology,Longwood College, Farmville,VA 23909-1899; email:
LBIDWELL@LWCNET.LWC.EDU.